Grain-elevator



No. 6|I,044. Patented Sept. 20, I898. J. W. STARK & G. N. DOYLE.

GRAIN ELEVATOR.

[Application filed Feb. 14, 1898;)

FAQ 4 v w 1m. 1V W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN IV. STARK AND GEORGE N. DOYLE, OF IVEST NICHOLSON, PENNSYLVANIA.

GRAIN-,ELEVAITOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,044, dated September 20, 1898. Application filed February 14, 1898. $erial1l'o. 670,267. (No model.)

To aZl wh0m it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN WV. STARK and GEORGE N. DOYLE, citizens of the United States, residing at West Nicholson, in the county of Wyoming and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Grain- Elevator, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in grain-elevators of that class which employ an endless apron which carries a series of buckets, and one object that we have in view is to provide an improved mechanism by which the idler-roller of the elevator may be adjusted as required to take up slack in the endless apron, and thus maintain the same in a taut operative condition to start and stop the endless apron from any one of the floors of the structure upon which the elevator is situated, and enable the attendant, when inspecting the working parts and in the event of one arm or hand being caught in the elevator, to quickly adjust with the free hand the idle-roller and arrest the endless apron.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved elevator,which may be used advantageously in any kind of mill building, which is so constructed that ready access may be obtained to the idler-roller for the purpose of inspecting said roller and the bucket-carrying apron as it passes around the same and in which the roller-adjusting screw is always accessible from the outside of the boot or casing to adjust said roller without opening the door ordoors of the elevator-casing.

With these ends in view the invention consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

We have illustrated our improved grainelevator in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is an elevation of our grain-elevator. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the plane indicated by the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 2. I

Like numerals of reference denote like and corresponding parts in each of the several figures of the drawings.

In the practical embodiment of our grainelevator we employ an elongated boot or casing 1, which may be constructed of any suitable material and of proper dimensions for use in a mill building. The lower end of the boot or casing is constructed to provide a foot 2, and the upper end of said boot or casing forms the head 3. The foot 2 of the casing or boot is provided at one or both sides with doors 4, which are hinged, as at 4:, and normally confined in their closed positions by suitable catches, such hinged doors enabling the operator to obtain access to the interior of the boot or casing for the purpose of inspection, repairs, and for the attachment of new buckets to the endless apron, as will be required. The opposing sides or faces of the hinged doors 4 are provided with parallel coincident grooves 5, and to the upper side of the foot 2 is secured a bearing-block 6. This bearingblock is fitted between the lengths or legs of the elevator-boot, and it is' secured rigidly in place to the foot 2, so that the bearing-block is always exposed to View. The bearing-block is provided on its exposed side edges with grooves 7, which are coincident with the grooves 8, formed in the foot 2. The grooves 8 and the grooves 5 in the doors 4 are in line with each other and with the grooves 7 in the bearing-block 6, and by this construction and arrangement of the foot, the doors thereof, and the bearing-block we provide parallel guideways for the legs of an ad j ustable yoke or frame 9. This yoke or frame is made from a single piece of metal which is suitably Wrought or cast to provide the parallel legs 10 and the head 11. The yoke is assembled in such relation to the boot or casin g 1 that the legs 10 thereof occupy the alined grooves in the bearing-block, the foot 2, and the doors 4 thereof, while the head 11 of said yoke or frame lies between the lengths or legs of the casing 1 and above the fixed bearingblock 6, whereby the upper end of the adjusting-yoke is always exposed to view, and ready access may be obtainedthereto between the lengths of the elevator-boot. The head 11 of the adjustable yoke is provided .with a threaded opening 12, which forms afixed nut on the head of said yoke and with the threads of said apertured head engage the threads of the single adj Listing-screw 13, which is arranged longitudinally of the yoke and the boot or casing, as shown.

To the upper side of the fixed bearing-block 6, between the grooves 7 therein, is secured a step-plate 14, which on its upper face is provided with a boss forming a step-bearing 15, which receives the lower smooth end of the adjusting-screw 13. The adjusting-screw is thus loosely fitted at one end in a fixed step-bearing on the block 6, which block serves in part as a guide for the yoke 9 and as asupport for the step-plate, while the other end of said adjusting-screw passes through the threaded bearin g or nut in the head of the yoke to protrude above the latter, such protruding end of the adj usting-screw being provided with a suitable head or hand-wheel16.

The adjustable yoke or frame 9 carries the idler-roller 17, whichis arranged between the legs of the yoke and is contained in the foot 2 between the doors thereof, and this idlerroller has its shaft 18 mounted in suitable apertures or bearings on the legs of the yoke 9, thus adapting or mounting said idler-roller to partake of the endwise adjustment of the yoke or frame 9 under the influence of the screw.

In the head 3 of the boot or casing 1 is journaled the shaft 19 of the driving-roller 20, one end of said shaft being projected beyond the boot or casing to receive a belt'driven pulley or other suitable appliance by which the roller 20 may be rotated to impart traveling motion to the endless apron 21, the bights of which are fitted around the rollers 17 20, respectively. As is usual in the art, the apron 21 carries the buckets 22, which maybe attached to the apron in any preferred way.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, it will be observed that we provide a simple construction of grain-elevator in which the foot thereof is provided with doors which may be readily opened to enable the operatorto obtain access to the interior of the boot or casing. The attendant is thus able to remove any surplus material which may lodge or accumulate in the foot of the elevator-boot, as well as to remove old or injured buckets from the endless apron and attach new buckets thereto. The adjustingscrew for the yoke or frame 9 is always exposed to view and readily accessible without opening the door or doors at of the casing, and the operator is thus able to start or stop the elevator without being required to open the doors. The rotation of the screw in one direction serves to depress the yoke or frame 9, and the sliding movement of said yoke carries with it the idler-roller 17, thereby causing the roller to tighten the apron an d start the latter in operation. lhe screw may be rotated more or less and adjust the idlerroller to secure the necessary tension on the apron to maintain the latter in a taut condition 5 but when it is desired to arrest the apron it is only necessary to rotate the adj ustingscrew in the reverse direction, thus retracting the idler from the bight in the apron and permitting the latter to remain idle on the rollers 17 20. The adjusting mechanism for the idler-roller occupies a very compact relation to the elevator-boot, and said adj Listingserew is exposed and always accessible. It is sometimes necessary to inspect or clean the elevator and its buckets, and during this operation one arm or hand of the operator is liable to be caught between the elevator and the roller or in the inclosing case for the elevator but the other hand of the operator may be used to quickly adjust the screw 13 and retract the yoke and roller for the purpose of stopping the elevator. The adjustment of the idler-rollers in an elongated elevator may be effected from any of the floors of a building, and the adj usting-screw 13,which is connected by the yoke to the idler-roller, may run the entire length of the elevator and be provided at each floor of the building with a suitable operating device to enable the operator on either floor to adjust the screw as required. In the event of the elevator becoming overloaded with grain to such an extent as to slip on the rollers the adj ustin g-screw may be rotated to force the outer roller into tighter engagement with the endless apron, thereby taking up the slack and insuring proper operation of the apparatus.

It is evident that changes in the form and proportion of parts may be made by a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim is- A grain-elevator comprising the logs, the foot having the grooves, S, and provided in its sides with the grooved hinged doors the grooves in which are in line with the grooves, 8, the exposed bearing-block, (5, fixed to the upper side of the foot between the legs and having the grooves, 7, which are in alinement with the grooves, 8, a socketed plate secured to the upper side of the bearing-block, a carrier-yoke having its legs slidably fitted in the grooves of the bearing-block, the foot, and the doors and provided in its head with a threaded opening, a longitudinal ad justingshaft having a threaded portion screwed into the head of the yoke and stepped in the socketed plate and provided with a series of handwheels, an idler-roller journaled in the yoke, a drivingroller, and an endless elevatorapron fitted to said rollers, substantially as described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN V. STARK. GEORGE N. DOYLE. \Vitnesses:

B. S. EVANS, HENRY HARDING. 

